Rheological behavior of zein biopolymer and stiffness characteristic of biopolymer treated soil

Quadri Olakunle Babatunde, Hyung Koo Yoon, Yong Hoon Byun

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The modification of polymeric biomolecules to achieve improved cementation is important for their potential applications. This study presents the rheological behaviors of eco-friendly zein biopolymer and stiffness characteristics of biopolymer-treated soil under various solvent and curing conditions. The rheological and stiffness characteristics of zein biopolymer are evaluated in terms of shear stress, viscosity, and shear wave velocity. The time sensitivity, flow index, and microstructure of biopolymer gel are analyzed. The biopolymer gel generally exhibits a weakly non-Newtonian shear-thickening behavior, except for the specimen cured for 24 h under chamber condition. At a constant shear rate, the biopolymer gel shows a rheopexy behavior, which is characterized by an increase in viscosity over time. The shear wave velocity of biopolymer-treated soil increases with the curing period, up to 50 and 96 % under atmospheric and chamber conditions, respectively. The peak absorption values for the hydroxyl functional group decrease significantly as the curing period and ethanol content increase. Furthermore, the microparticle sizes of the zein biopolymer gel decrease with increasing ethanol content. Therefore, understanding the stiffness characteristics of biopolymer-treated soil specimens for potential soil stabilization can be improved based on the rheological properties of zein biopolymer.

Original languageEnglish
Article number131466
JournalConstruction and Building Materials
Volume384
DOIs
StatePublished - 27 Jun 2023

Keywords

  • Biopolymer
  • Elastic wave
  • Rheology
  • Soil stabilization
  • Zein

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